Handbag and method of making the same



Sep t. 7,1926. 1,599,044-

D. D. FROTHINGHAM HANDBAG AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed March 19 1924 ee. were e ne beware .1. t

Patented Sept. 7, 1926. i

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1 I nnmnnAannnmn'rnon on MAKING THE S ME.

This invention relatesto improvements in bags: and methods oat making the same. The utility of adurable, inexpensive and light Weight" handbag would be almost univcrsa-hthere being: av demand for them by be easily handled by a child; that shall'be sufliciently waterproof; and dirt proof, to Withstand Weather conditions; and Withal that'shall be-producibleatso low a cost that itsretail purchase need involveonly a modest expenditure: And; it is a feature of the invention that; in attaining the foregoing objects, there is no sacrifice of appearance,

vspare or shape,yfrom th at which has been Considered more or less thestand'ard of present day high grade bags. I

These objects are. attained by providing a .thin metallic ribbon framewhich is lightin Weight, strong in tensile stress, as flexible as may be; needed, and capable of being put together in the configurations of any ordinary handtbag such. as a Boston bag, brief case; etea preferably this material, for example thin sheet Steel, aluminum, or the ,lilzefisused gtheformof narrow ,strips or bands,:s0 as; to constitute a skeleton wh ch .may ex tend around the hag from lt-hefltop downoneside, acnossthe bottonr and up the other side to the tom-thence downward again to. overlap itself a. short amount. .T'Wo these. thin bands, placed:v one near each. end

of, the hag-1 are enough,,but others may be added andlif. desired, a single stripeqiial Widtlnte the longitudinal extent of the hag: may extendentirely anound' the bag'between, its ends. The overlapped portions of these strips are fastened together by any Suitable means when the bag is closed so that in eifect each band constitutesa continuous I p v 'preciable strain is placed uponeither lining stock herein called bars, e:;tend along the i durable. fiy sai si fi tin the Be view m b metallic strap. Strips of, stiller metallic top and bottom the, bag, across the? thin 7. Application filed lvlarch 13, 1924. Serial 110.700,?84.

them, as by spot welding. Theserigid bars aid in the distributoirof'the load among the, several band-S, and the top bar serves to centralize the entire Weight upon the handle;

In making the bag it is preferable that the metallic frame shouldbe constructed flat, i. e.,,in 'aplane, and. in thatform be placed .uponthe already prepared cove-ring or face material of the bag. This latter may beof imitation leather. or athin skiving of real leather for, as will hereinafter appear, it need not be made of strong material because suhstantially no portion of the load" is to be supported byit; Upon the metallic frameis then placeda suitably thick, and strong layer of paper board or any other preferred material, cut flat accordingtopattern in the .shape required to form the top, bottom and sides of the bag. ,Preferably anadhesive is used to stick the facing and paperboard body'sheet together, with the frameembedded between them, and, if the bag is to be lined, the lining, comprising a light cloth or limitation; leatherbacking v may be glued to the inner'side of the'paper-board. Also'the covering maybe out. with a margin that, can be turned over the edges to. improve thegen eral appearance. and a lineoi stitches added around the compositeshcet while it is still flat. The sheetfmay then be bent along predetermined, lines to form the bottom, sides and top; after Which end pieces,.si1nilarly madeand shaped, thoughwithout any 'metalhereinforcement, can be lnserted and secured in place as bY-StItCllIHg' Thehanclle isriVetedYto the: top bar, and. means are add- ,ed. to lock the overlapped. portions of the sidest'ogetherg Obviously a. bag so constructed is light, for" the imitation leather andthe paper boardptogether with the thin metallic flexible bands and the rigid-horizontalstrips, or bars, total- Very. small in The contents press primarily. upon the layer of paper boardat the bottom and sides, .butsincethis is. backed up at. short distances jbythe stiff.- bar along the bottom and by the encircling bands, the latter really carry the load the stressesbeing. transmitted di rectly bytheybands. to; the upper metallic barand by this to the handle, so that nov apor coverin The'bag is light, strong an suitably overlapping the top made substantially moisture and dust proof. And withal, the bag is producible at an extremely low cost.

A single form of bag is shown illustrative of the principles of the invention. It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty xist in the invention disclosed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective, showing a metallic frame, constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention, in full lines, with the outline of the bag suggested by short dash lines;

Figure 2 is a plan View, on reduced scale, with parts cut away, showing the top, bottom and sides as made up before being folded;

- Figure 8 is a section as on line 3-3 of Figure 1, somewhat enlarged, to show the details of construction of the finished bag; and

Figure 4 is a perspective of a portion of the complete bag.

Referring to the drawings, in which all dimensions of thickness are greatly exaggerated for clearness, the covering may be a thin facing sheet of real or imitation leather, {2 cut to size. On this is placed the metallic frame Z) whose thin bands or ribbons 10, and stiff bars 12 and 14% have been previously secured together. A suitable body sheet of strong paper board 0, or other suitable material, preferably tough, light and inexpensive, either with or without a cloth or thin leather lining or backing 0 is placed next to the metallic ribbon frame 6, and the several layers are glued, or stitched together around their edges, with the ribbon frame embedded between the said facing and body sheets.

At opposite edges of the composite sheet, that are eventually to overlap each other, fastening means are attached, such as an eyelet 16 at one side, and a binding post 18 with button at the other. These fastening means are so arranged as to pass through the metallic ribbons near their ends, to bind the ribbons, covering and lining securely together.

The complete sheet is then bent to form the top, d, bottom a and side walls f and g of the bag, being folded at right angles to form the bottom edges h, and being folded above these edges at obtuse angles to form the upper side edges i, from which the sides converge to the top where one side wall terminates and where the other is further bent to form both the flat top piece, embodying the rigid bar 1 1, and the flap j which overlies the upper portion of the first mentioned side wall. In the flap near the ends of the ribbons of the flexible frame are the eyelets 16, predeterminately located so as to pass around the binding posts 18 which are of any suitable type, secured in the other top side wall which at this point is under when the two portions are overlapped. By turn ing the buttons on these posts the flap is I secured firmly in place and the ends of each metallic ribbon locked together. Thus the bottom, top and sides are formed. The end pieces are inserted and fastened in place in any well known manner. is, as a whole, rectangular in shape, its lower portion being made up of afacing, paper board body and an inner lining as hereto fore described in connection with the sides, and the upper portion 76 having only the facing and the lining. When the sides of the completed bag are brought together to close the bag, the flexible upper portions of these end pieces buckle within the converging top of the sides, with their top edges Z resting snugly against the under side of the narrow flat top (Z which the bag has when closed, so that moisture and foreign matter are well excluded. lVhen the bag is opened, the flexible top portions of the ends flatten out into alignment with the lower stiffer portions thus giving a full opening at the top of the bag. The handle an is riveted or otherwise secured to the rigid metal bar 14: in the top of the bag.

hen being carried, the weight of the contents rests upon the stiff paper board bottom or presses against the stiff paper board sides. This pressure is taken up by it through the flexible ribbons 10 to the stiff upper bar 1% and by it to the handle m. The load therefore is borne by the metallic frame.

Since the stresses in the side ribbons are wholly tension stresses, these metallic ribbons can be made extremely thin and light, and yet be strong enough to transmit the load to the stiff bar at the top. They also serve to prevent bulging of the sides, so that in fact very little strain is permitted to be exerted upon the cover or lining.

The thinness of the ribbons may vary, according to desired design and purpose of the bag, but the possibilities of the described metallic ribbon frame for lightness combined with strength may be understood from the fact that flexible metallic ribbons can be made which are so extremely thin that light can pass through. lVhile such extreme thinness would not ordinarily be used, a suitable degree of sheet metal thinness can be employed without adding appreciably to the thickness, or falling undesirably short of the flexibility required in the walls of a bag. The ability of sheets of such a thin metal to transmit stresses to the handle may be increased by distributing the stresses at the points of junction over relatively large areas of ribbon, as by welding large flat surfaces together where they cross, and by sct= Each of these ting eyelets; therein for receiving the post and button connections.

I claim. as my invention 1. A hand bag comprising a skeleton frame ofribbons and a cover therefor, said frame having members encircling the bag which are ofample' rigidity to, of themselves, determine the shape of the bag and having longitudinal members at the top and bottom connecting said encircling members; each of the latter said members being suspended from the said toplongitudinal member and tions overlapping each other; means for fastening said overlapped portions removably together; and a longitudinal member on which the encircling member hangs and which is itself connected with the handle.

3.'A hand bag comprising a skeleton of metallic ribbons, v a cover therefor, and a handle, said ribbons being flexible but of ample rigidity to, of themselves, determine the shape of the bag and extending around the bag with endsoverlapping; fastening means for removably securing said overlapped ends together; and a rigid member connecting said ribbons and handle together.

4. A hand bag having a composite wall comprisinga metallic ribbon skeleton having outer and inner coverings and being itself bendable with them into shape to conthe bra g,

stitute the top, bottom and sides of the bag and being supported by them in said shape against interior and exterior pressure, and having one of its longitudinal edges overlapping its other longitudinal edge; with meanswfor fastening together the overlap ping parts of the wall.

5. A bag, the main stress bearing por tions of which comprise composite sheet material having a skeleton of metallic ribbons, so thin as tobe capable of undergoing fleXure easily and repeatedly and practically withinout injury and at the same time amply rigid to maintain the shape of the bag, embedded between a body sheet and a facing sheet of organic material.

6. A composite material suitable for bags and the like comprising a skeleton of metallic ribbons, so thin as to be capable of under going flexure easily and repeatedly and practically without injury and at the same time amply rigid to maintain the shape of combined with a body sheet and a facing, between which the said skeleton is embedded.

7. A bag comprising a skeleton frame of thin metallic ribbons, having members encircling the bag which are of ample rigidity to, of themselves, determine the shape of the bag and having a longitudinal member connecting withsaid encircling members, combined with a body sheet and a facing, between which the said frame is embedded; there being a handle attached to the longitudinal member.

Signed at Boston, Massachusetts, this eighteenth day of March 1924:.

V DANIEL D. FROTI-IINGHAM. 

